To be a great leader, you must have the great qualities of a leader that will allow others to be committed to you and follow you to the end no matter the battle or task. To be a great leader, you must also be willing to follow others sometimes. Leaders should constantly be teaching, training, and passing on experience and knowledge to others, so they may develop into great leaders themselves. One leader cannot rule the world. However, several great leaders can. The United Nations is made up of leaders from countries around the world. A great leader will create allies that will stick with them through thick and thin. There are many great qualities of a leader that take years to develop. Here are the ones that I feel are most important:
Have Great Character. Don’t Always Be a Character.
Any great leader must start with great character. Great character is not something you’re born with; it’s something you choose. The deciding factor of one’s character is their actions. Character is what will build trust with others and build the foundation to any leader’s success throughout their career .
Charisma
Do you think you can lead by always being concerned about yourself? No, you cannot. Great leaders should always be concerned about others and the mission first. Here is how you should look at charisma: be more concerned about how others feel about themselves than about you. Don’t be selfish. If others always see you going for the gold and they’re left with the silver, they won’t continue to follow you. So sharing, awarding, and rewarding others ahead of you is important.
Be Committed
You must be committed and share that commitment with everyone you lead. Your commitment will become theirs. You have to look at how you spend your time and your dedication to duty. You must be committed to everyone you lead. You must know what you’re willing to make any sacrifice for.
Communicate with Others
When you speak as a leader, others must be willing to listen no matter the importance of what you’re saying. You should speak with enthusiasm and professionalism. Always look at the entire audience and make good eye contact. Then eliminate saying “uh,” “um,” and “I mean.” You should speak with clarity. It’s not always what you say but how you say it. Always seek a response. As a good leader, you have to clearly get a message across that motivates others to act on it, believe in it, and trust you.
Are You a Good Learner?
To be a good leader you must be competent in everything you do. You must be willing to keep growing, learning, and improving. You should strive to accomplish more than expected. Your competence should motivate and inspire others.
Heart of a Lion
You must have great courage. Any great leader will tell you they have failed, made mistakes, and turned them into learning experiences. You must have courage and not fear that you will fail. You will gain experience, confidence, and courage through every experience; you will look fear in the face. You must do the things you fear you cannot do. You must be willing to say to yourself “I have lived through worse and can live through this and anything that comes along.”
Don’t Sit Around
As a leader, you should take initiative! Don’t sit around waiting for others do things. You must know what you want and go get it. You will have more success by being proactive than reactive! You must lead and push others to act, not react.
Open Your Ears!
If you’re always talking, you’re never listening. You are also never learning, and you soon will begin to make unfounded assumptions. This will help you fail! Be a good listener. This means being silent. Let’s look at the words “silent” and “listen.”
s-i-l-e-n-t
l-i-s-t-e-n
Is it a coincidence that both words have all the same letters? A customer and even an enemy will often tell you their weaknesses if you just listen. Let them speak. Let others speak.
Be Positive
You choose your attitude, so leave the ego at the door. One of the most toxic climates of any company or unit is negativity, especially from leaders. That includes constant complaining. Many failures happen simply because a leader was negative and had no idea how close they really were to success. Be positive and reflect positivity in both your attitude and communication. Others will believe in it too, and you will be rewarded with more success.
Take Responsibility
A leader must first hold themselves accountable and responsible for any task or mission. You have to accept responsibility no matter the consequences of success or failure. You cannot always take responsibility for success and give blame for failures. You have to hold yourself to a higher standard and higher responsibility. How can you lead a team if you won’t carry the ball?
See with More than Just Your Eyes
You must have great vision. This comes from passion and belief in what you’re doing and want to do. You must visualize success and seek it. This will drive you, and it will be the fire for others who follow you.
Other Qualities
There are more qualities that I have been taught and that most of you have been taught as well to be a great leader. However, as a leader, these qualities are the ones that lead to my success and that will cultivate yours as well. You have to become a leader that others will want to follow not have to follow. If you become the person you want to be on the inside, you will become the leader you want to be on the outside. Then people will want to follow you, and you will be successful at anything you do, no matter what unit, company, or organization you’re in.
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